"I missed a free throw, a 3-pointer, a couple of layups," she said Saturday at Carmichael Auditorium at North Carolina. "But I did okay."
Whalen, the Big 10 player of the year, outran the Runnin' Rebels and left them flat-footed as she poured in 29 points in the fifth-seeded Golden Gophers' 71-54 rout of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Whalen hit 10 of 16 shots from the floor, despite missing her only 3-point try, and hit 9-of-10 free throws.
Whalen, a sophomore, averaged 21.9 points a game during the regular season and helped Minnesota to the biggest turnaround among the NCAA women's 64 teams. After going 8-20 last year, Minnesota stood 22-7 Saturday.
"That doesn't mean much to us now," she said. "That's really something that's in the past. What's important to us is that we're here now, and we want to have some fun."
The Golden Gophers hit 28 of 62 shots from the floor (45.2 percent) and held UNLV to 25-for-70 shooting (35.7 percent). Janel McCarville's 12 boards helped them to a 45-39 rebounding advantage.
They also guarded three-time Mountain West Conference player of the year Linda Frohlich with several players, holding her to 4-for-14 shooting and 9 points and and 5 rebounds. She averaged 20.9 points and 10.5 boards for UNLV.
"It's definitely no fun to be guarded by more than one player," Frohlich said. "It's been like this for me all year. I should have been prepared. I should have been stronger."
Sherry McCracklin scored 11 points to lead Nevada-Las Vegas (23-8), and Constance Jinks 10.
Minnesota jumped out to a 14-6 lead that grew as big as 29-13 midway through the first half. Frohlich hit four of her first eight shots, but went zero for six in the second half as Minnesota pulled away.
Whalen had 12 first-half points to take Minnesota to a 37-24 halftime lead. The Golden Gophers held Nevada-Las Vegas scoreless for the first 4:32 of the second half to make the margin 45-24. The Rebels never again got closer than 45-32.
Whalen scored 13 consecutive points in a span of 5:11 late in the second half. She ended the string with her final points of the game, two free throws that gave Minnesota a 67-46 lead with 4:12 left. She sat out the last 3:45.
"There's no telling how far we can go if we keep playing like this," Whalen said.
Lindsay Lieser added 12 and Corrin Van Wald 10 for Minnesota, which will face North Carolina, an 85-58 winner over Harvard, in the second round.
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BOX SCORE | RECAP
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Lindsay Whalen wasn't perfect.
"I missed a free throw, a 3-pointer, a couple of layups," she said Saturday at Carmichael Auditorium at North Carolina. "But I did okay."
Whalen, the Big 10 player of the year, outran the Runnin' Rebels and left them flat-footed as she poured in 29 points in the fifth-seeded Golden Gophers' 71-54 rout of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Whalen hit 10 of 16 shots from the floor, despite missing her only 3-point try, and hit 9-of-10 free throws.
Whalen, a sophomore, averaged 21.9 points a game during the regular season and helped Minnesota to the biggest turnaround among the NCAA women's 64 teams. After going 8-20 last year, Minnesota stood 22-7 Saturday.
"That doesn't mean much to us now," she said. "That's really something that's in the past. What's important to us is that we're here now, and we want to have some fun."
The Golden Gophers hit 28 of 62 shots from the floor (45.2 percent) and held UNLV to 25-for-70 shooting (35.7 percent). Janel McCarville's 12 boards helped them to a 45-39 rebounding advantage.
They also guarded three-time Mountain West Conference player of the year Linda Frohlich with several players, holding her to 4-for-14 shooting and 9 points and and 5 rebounds. She averaged 20.9 points and 10.5 boards for UNLV.
"It's definitely no fun to be guarded by more than one player," Frohlich said. "It's been like this for me all year. I should have been prepared. I should have been stronger."
Sherry McCracklin scored 11 points to lead Nevada-Las Vegas (23-8), and Constance Jinks 10.
Minnesota jumped out to a 14-6 lead that grew as big as 29-13 midway through the first half. Frohlich hit four of her first eight shots, but went zero for six in the second half as Minnesota pulled away.
Whalen had 12 first-half points to take Minnesota to a 37-24 halftime lead. The Golden Gophers held Nevada-Las Vegas scoreless for the first 4:32 of the second half to make the margin 45-24. The Rebels never again got closer than 45-32.
Whalen scored 13 consecutive points in a span of 5:11 late in the second half. She ended the string with her final points of the game, two free throws that gave Minnesota a 67-46 lead with 4:12 left. She sat out the last 3:45.
"There's no telling how far we can go if we keep playing like this," Whalen said.
Lindsay Lieser added 12 and Corrin Van Wald 10 for Minnesota, which will face North Carolina, an 85-58 winner over Harvard, in the second round.
"Great season though."
What did you win?
"A few years full of Sloop smack"......
LMAO...
I like it..........!
Sloop's SMACK is like fine china...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Yes it is like fine China, very weak and very breakable.
"Yes it is like fine China, very weak and very breakable."
Good one, Wolvie...
(Standing "O")
Kiss my ass Coach K! Mwahhahahahahahahahahah!
Nice job, Hoosiers...
Gotta love it.
Man I loved seeing Duke lose. Now Kansas needs to lose.
Go SOONERS!!!!!!!!!
How about them Sooners?
What a hell of a game.
Well done, Wolvie...
FINAL FOUR bound.
Terps are gonna win it all...
GO BIG RED!!!
Oh yeah...
Maryland looked anything but dominant.
Kansas looked dominant.
Go Jayhawks!
I hope Maryland beats the tar out of the Jayhawks.
Jayhawks will win the tournament...
Wolvie
Have fun watching the Sooners...
Up next...
the not-to-be-stopped...
Maryland Terrapins.
GO TERPS!!!
Anyone could win and they'd deserve it. Four hard-working, successful teams.
Hard working & successful ?
sounds like the Packers to me.......
GO PACK GO !
I agree, Emperor Jones.......
GO PACKERS!!!
What happened to my Sooners???
Man the refs called a tight game. Oh well, Go Terps!
"Jayhawks will win the tournament..."
As usual, Sloop was wrong... AGAIN.
<snicker>
GO TERPS!!!
A "TEAM" not to be denied...
LOL!
STAY HOT VOELZ.
V12
Looks like Randy has "TD" on his mind...
Oh yeah...
A double blow to the Sooners over the weekend.
UCONN 39-0? WOW!
I'm still proud of both Sooner teams. They did very well.
GO TERPS!!!
Just look at the prestigious schools that had to beat in order to claim their place in history. What a great run.
MARYLAND TERRAPINS!!!
TRUE CHAMPIONS!!!
Oh yeah...
Good hustle by the HOOSIERS. They tried every which way to make it into an ugly BIG TEN game.
If they hit a couple of easy lay in's, who knows...
Pam Borton is doing a good job keeping them motivated. Janelle McCarvelle is a female Shaq. A real tank in the middle. = )